MGS: the second generation
by Pliskin1985
Summary: I--I've been cloned" Snake is finding retirement alot less peaceful then he planned.He recieves news that he's been cloned but that isn't the worst of it---the clone has it in for him.This is my first fanfiction so any advice is welcome.Please comment!
1. Chapter 1

Snake had never seen Campbell look so worried. He could tell something was wrong. The way that he was hurried into the study didn't seem right. Nor for that matter was the way that Campbell was acting. Roy Campbell was one of the few people that Snake knows that could look at him and treat him like a normal human being, instead of some hired killer. However, this time, since Snake arrived at Campbell's home. Roy hadn't looked at him or spoken a word--- not even once. Something was seriously wrong.

Snake sat there on one of the antique couches and watched Roy pace up and down the room in an uncomfortable silence. Each time he would pause for a few seconds and shot a worrying glance over to the stack of files that were clumsily organised on the edge of his desk. Several minutes went past as Snake watched him repeat the same routine over and over again.

"Colonel, I appreciate you wanting to see me but do you mind telling me what's going on?" Snake was able to break Roy out of his trance, causing him to swing round and knock all the files onto the floor. For a moment Snake thought that Campbell had forgotten he was there. Roy got down and tried to pick up the scattered files but Snake found watching him struggling so unbearable that he got down and gave him a hand.

"Sorry Snake, things have been a bit hectic lately"

Snake handed the files over and smiled, he was beginning to notice. Campbell looked unwell, like he hadn't slept in weeks. Roy sat down in his chair and dumped the files back on his desk; he let out a slight groan. He was beginning to look old.

"Yeah, I'm beginning to tell. You look like hell Colonel, like you haven't slept in months" Snake replied positioning himself back on the couch. Roy let off a weak smile and rubbed his forehead

"Well, the truth of the matter is that you aren't that far off. Things aren't looking good Snake."

"....Colonel?"

"Snake, I'm not a colonel anymore and even if I was. I would have no right to be one. Snake I feel ashamed. I feel as if I could have prevented it from happening if I had only known...." Whatever Campbell wanted to say, Snake noticed that he couldn't, as if just by looking at him Roy was forced to relive the past events of some hellish nightmare.

"Colonel, why have you called me in?" Snake watched him fumble through the files, till he found the one that he wanted.

"It's a lot easier for me to just show you, I feel so bad about this. I have no right to be called your friend" he pushed the file across the desk. Snake picked it up; he flicked it open and read the first few paragraphs. Snake found he couldn't take it in; the words that were in front of him weren't making any sense. He was shocked but not just shocked, he felt angry, as if he had been violated. He kept reading. The more he read, the angrier and more abused he felt. Rage was building up inside of him, as if he was a bomb ready to explode. The whole thing was making him feel sick. It took a while before he was able to force the words out

"I--- I've been cloned?"

"It would seem that way--- yes" Campbell couldn't bring himself to look at Snake anymore; he sat there at his desk cradling his head in his hands. He was feeling tired and his body was starting to ache but he felt that this was the only way that he could make it up to him, as if, just by doing this he'll be that one step closer to the hell that Snake was going through.

"But-- I can't, the Les Enfants Terribles project shouldn't have allowed for such a thing to happen"

"Well, with the advancements in science, scientists have found a way. The whole thing makes me feel sick to be human and that's not the worst thing about it" Snake stared at him "they were _our_ scientists. As if, me being commander of Foxhound meant nothing." Campbell slammed his hands down on the desk

"That's not the worst of the problem is it?" Snake knew there was a lot more to this situation, there always was. He re-opened the file and read the more recent entry. "Where is he?"

"You mean _she_ and to be honest--- we don't know. There were some complications in the last mission. When she returned to the base, she disappeared--- I'm afraid she's gone after someone"

"What makes you say that?"

Roy shifted uncomfortably in his chair

"Before she went AWOL we were able to find out what she was doing. She broke into the armoury and afterwards she managed to hack her way into the database. She was looking for information on someone...." He looked at Snake "It was you"


	2. Chapter 2

Snake wasn't sure what to think, nothing seemed to be making much sense to him. Just a few minutes beforehand he had discovered that he had been cloned. The worst part was that _she_ has it in for him. The news had hit him hard but not as much as it had Roy. Roy knew nothing about it but when he discovered what had happened, he felt somehow responsible for it all. Snake knew it wasn't his fault though he had no way of telling him that. Nothing that he could say would stop him from feeling the way that he was. Campbell was rubbing his forehead again, he was clearly unwell.

Snake re-opened the file and started to read through each entry. Most of it seemed oddly familiar to him, like _she_ had been living his life: _no parents, spent most of her childhood moving from foster family to foster family. Joined the military and after showing exceptional skills got recruited into Foxhound._ Snake remembered that Foxhound got reinstated under the command of Meryl. She always had a thing for the unit since he had known her, ever since their first meeting on Shadow Moses Island. It wasn't really much of a surprise that she became its commander. Plus her father, Roy Campbell was once Foxhound's commander all those years ago. To Snake it was turning into a family owned business. Reading through the file again Snake had a feeling that Meryl would know something.

"Colonel, where's Meryl?"

Campbell looked up, the wrinkles on his face were getting deeper and his eyes were looking red. "Err...she should be at Foxhound's base." Snake got up and started to leave "Are you going to find her?"

"I need to talk to her; she was this kid's commander so she must know something about her"

Snake had only just reached the doorway when Campbell spoke, his voice sounding gravelly

"I...I know her, well the truth is... I've met her. A couple of times when I was at the base... she was a nice girl, always polite."

Snake turned around "Does she look like me?"

"Isn't there a photo?"

"No"

Roy started to frantically search through all the files; maybe the photo had fallen out.

"I don't understand... there should have been a photo with the file. I'm sorry I can't remember what she looks like exactly. " He replied shaking his head "god, I feel like such a fool...I could have...." Roy started coughing, he couldn't stop. He bent forwards and grabbed at the glass of water that stood on his desk and greedily drank from it. Snake didn't know what to do, or for that matter what to say to dispel his friend's guilt.

"Colonel, it wasn't your fault"

* * *

A couple of hours later, Snake arrived at Foxhound's base still holding the file that Campbell had given him. Inside the base, he was greeted by a familiar face

"Hey Snake. Whoa! Snake it's me!" Snake instantly recognised the guy; it was Johnny or Akiba as he was known by some people. Johnny always came across as a bit of an idiot in his eyes, somebody who really shouldn't have been allowed into the military at all, let alone into an elite group like Foxhound. (However, Snake would grudgingly admit Johnny had his uses, especially during the Guns of the Patriots incident, even though it wasn't at all obvious at the time.)

Johnny ran towards him, he seemed happy, almost excited that Snake had turned up at the base. For him it was like Christmas had come early.

"So, are you here about the missing recruit?" he questioned, tailing Snake down the corridor like a hyper-active puppy

"Something like that" Snake really didn't like the guy but he tried his best to appear friendly "Where's Meryl?"

"She's in her office on the fourth floor" Johnny replied, staring at a notice board that hung on the wall. On the notice board were various adverts and information pamphlets informing people on the things that are needed to make the perfect solider. There was even an advent advertising a thirty five percent off everything sale at _Drebin_'s place. Snake was gone by the time Johnny looked up "I could...."

Snake was outside Meryl's office feeling out of breath and very tired, he wasn't entirely sure why he didn't decide on taking the elevator. Maybe pushing his body near to its limit made him feel alive or something. In truth it made him feel old. Due to premature aging from the cloning process that created him, Snake's appearance was similar to that of a seventy year old man. He also felt like one as well, but that never stopped him. He wasn't going to spend the last of his days sitting on a porch rocking to-and-fro in a rocking chair wrapped up in a woollen blanket. He stood outside the office waiting for his strength to return, soon afterwards he knocked.

Meryl sat at her desk going through a large mountain of paperwork. When Snake entered, she looked up at him and smiled

"A commander's work is never done" Snake said jokingly pointing at the pile. He found a wooden chair and sat down.

"Very funny Snake or is it _David_ now that you're retired?"

Snake flung his arms out and replied "it doesn't matter". Meryl smiled, since the Guns of the Patriots incident she had found a new bound of confidence. She was nothing like the scared and vulnerable woman he met in Shadow Moses. What was sitting in front of him was a woman who takes no crap from anyone. A woman who could stand her own in a fight and as it turned out, win an arm wrestle against a guy three times her size.

"So what brings you to my office" she asked leaning back in her chair

"I'm here about the missing recruit"

"Why would you be interested about that?" She seemed slightly puzzled by his interest

"Didn't your father mention anything?" he replied. Meryl shook her head; she clearly didn't know what Snake meant. He handed over the file; it was easier to just show he and to be truthful he didn't know where to begin. She opened it up and started to read. While he waited, Snake glanced round the room. He noticed a few pictures hanging on the white washed walls. Most of them were from the time she was in Rat Patrol 01; there were even a couple of photos from her wedding to Johnny. Snake could never understand why Johnny was the type of guy that Meryl would eventually settle for, though Snake would confess stranger things have happened.

"What---what the hell?" shouted Meryl slamming her fists down hard onto the table

"So you really didn't know"

Meryl shook her head "No, this is the first time I've seen this. Why didn't he say anything to me?" She was angry, furious in fact that she had been left out of an important information loop. "THAT NO LIFE, USELESS, SON OF A....."

"Meryl!" she looked at him "He only found out about this recently" What Snake said seemed to calm her down a little; she nodded and rested her head on her hands.

"I know her, very well for that matter. Even since she arrived at the unit we always use to joke that she acted like you. We even gave her the nickname Snake. Johnny was rather fond of her; he treated her like she was his little sister or something. The more I think about it, the more I believe that was where she learnt how to hack into computers." She stared at Snake "heh, it all makes sense now. My god Snake! What are you going to do?"

Snake shook his head "I don't know"


	3. Chapter 3

An uncomfortable silence engulfed the room; Meryl found that she just didn't know what to say. She felt blind for not seeing the kid for what she really was, though in truth there was no way of knowing. Meryl leant forwards and pressed the button on the intercom device that stood on her desk, when someone answered she asked for every file and DVD of every training session that the missing recruit had done. Moments later there was a knock at the door and a guy in a white lab coat came in pushing a trolley on which stood a TV and DVD player. Other guys in lab coats entered soon afterwards carrying several boxes. Snake didn't know what to make of the massive amount of information that he was being supplied with. Meryl delved into one of the boxes and pulled out a disk labelled _01441_, she then walked over to the TV and inserted it into the drive.

The clip was of an outdoor obstacle course, a trail of car tyres, rope swings and large wooden panels. It looked cold, wet and miserable. Standing at the start of the course were four figures. Two of them were holding stop watches, while the other one was holding a clip board poised to take notes.

"There she is" Meryl was pointing at the fourth figure, who was wearing nothing but shorts and a t-shirt. She couldn't stand still; in fact she was shaking. Most people would have said she was shaking from the cold but not Snake. One look at her face, one look into her eyes and he could tell, she was shaking with excitement. A whistle sounded and she was off. Due to her height Snake was surprised that she was able to make it over the first wall with ease. He watched the girl tackle the rest of the obstacle course at great speed. He could hear the other figures remarks; they were surprised by her agility. When the girl reached the end, the other figures were speechless. Snake wasn't able to see her finish time but he could tell by their faces that she was fast---really fast. The clip then ended.

Meryl got out of her chair and changed the disk. The next clip was of Foxhound's shooting range, a mass of paper targets hung up on some sort of pulley system. On each target was a silhouette of a person. Due to the camera only being focused on them Snake couldn't see the girl anywhere on screen but he knew that she was close by. It was then Meryl informed Snake of the purpose of the exercise

"It's sniping training, during missions she's one of our main snipers. She's....well you'll see for yourself" The targets started to move, swaying from left to right as they crossed the width of the room. A whistle then sounded and several shots were fired. Snake could feel his stomach tighten, not from fear but from anticipation. The girl was able to get a head shot on every single one. Meryl was right, she was good. The clip then ended. Meryl changed the disk and they watched the next clip, they watched training session after training session until finally Snake had enough.

"I've seen enough" he told her. He did not want to see anymore. No matter how many of the training files he sees it'll just show him the same thing over and over again. He didn't want to know what she's good at. He'll find that out sooner or later, what he wanted to know was how she thinks. At least watch something that would give him an insight into what's going on in her head. Meryl was clearly annoyed

"Snake don't be stupid, you need to see this" she stuck the disk in the drive, Snake groaned. Even though he was in the process of quitting, Snake would have murdered someone for a cigarette. He was finding sitting down and watching the files very boring. At least by smoking he would have something to do.

The clip that played on the TV wasn't another training session; it was taken on the day that the recruit disappeared from the base. It showed Foxhound's vast and very plain canteen. It looked very busy; several soldiers were standing by the serving hatch queuing up for their evening meal. Sitting at one of the tables with a vacant look on her face was the missing recruit, she hadn't touched her food. She seemed to be lost in thought, in some ways she seemed almost peaceful. A couple of soldiers walked behind her, they looked like your typical thugs. One of them put his hand on the girl's shoulder; he leaned over and whispered something into her ear. Whatever he said made the girl turn round and stare at him. This reaction pleased him, his face grinning with amusement. Another soldier who was standing on her left said something to her. Snake was annoyed by the lack of sound but he knew by the girl's face that it wasn't a friendly remark. She was clearly upset. None of the soldiers noticed her hand creeping closer to her fork. The soldier standing on her left started laughing, though that didn't last long. The girl had stabbed him in the genitals. He looked down, horrified. She stood up, grabbed her chair and smacked him with it. It sent him soaring across the room, blood gushing from his head. She then charged at the other soldier and knocked him to the floor. She jumped on top of him and started to punch him in the head over and over again until there was nothing left, nothing but a bloody pulp.

The soldier who was standing nearby, the one who never said anything but was clearly along for the ride stood there unable to move. The girl walked over and punched him across the face, blood started to pour from his mouth. He grabbed a knife from one of the tables and rushed at her. She just stood there, her face twisted with an uncontrollable rage. She stepped back, grabbed his arm and twisted it round into an unnatural position, the bone snapped. She then kicked him to the floor where he laid howling in pain. A soldier ran up behind her and grabbed her in some sort of vain attempt to get her to calm down. It didn't work; she stamped down hard on his foot which caused him to let go. She then swung round and kicked him. He went flying across the room. The soldiers who were still in the room confused by the situation rapidly became the girl's new prey. She proceeded across the room taking them out one by one till there was no one left standing. She stood there in the midst of the bodies staring down at her blood covered hands. The clip then changed to show her walking down a corridor, to Meryl no longer a soldier but a demon---a demon who had escaped from the bowels of hell. The girl looked straight into the camera; she pulled out a gun and fired. The picture then died.

Meryl couldn't think of anything to say. The incident had affected her deeply, what she showed Snake was a side of the girl that was never seen before, a side that no one had known about. Thinking about it made her feel queasy; she had seen violence before but nothing like that. She remembered arriving at the scene, watching the medical staff move the injured soldiers to the infirmary. A guy's arm twisted in a way that shouldn't have been possible. Meryl was beginning to feel hot; she got up and opened a window.

The buzzer on the intercom sounded

"What is it?" she asked pressing the button and leaning slightly towards the speaker

"We've opened her room" replied the voice

"We'll be right over" Meryl looked over at Snake "well then shall we?"

When they arrived at the girl's room Snake was slightly surprised by what he saw. The girl's room looked untouched as if no one had ever lived in it. The bedding still covered in its original plastic covering was left neatly folded at the end of the bed. The walls looked so dull and empty; there weren't any posters or a family photo in sight. No books filled the tiny bookshelf. Apart from the few clothes that were found in the wardrobe there was nothing. The whole room seemed deprived of a personality, it was depressing. Meryl noticed the table lamp on the desk was still on; she walked over switched it off and opened the curtains. That was when she noticed something; several pieces of paper had been rolled up and stuck in the bin. She pulled them out and unrolled them across the desk; she was horrified by what she saw.

"Snake you need to look at this" Meryl directed Snake's attention to them. They weren't ordinary sheets of paper; they were blueprints, blueprints of the nomad. While Snake stared at them, he failed to see the red beam of light that was aimed at his head. The beam coming from a sniper rifle whose shooter was hidden in the trees just outside the window.


End file.
